Coordinated by the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) at the University of St Andrews, seven ships and three aircraft will conduct an intensive survey of the European Atlantic continental shelf to map the distribution and estimate the abundance of whales, dolphins and porpoises, collectively known as cetaceans, living in these waters.
The survey, involving researchers from throughout western Europe, is part of the SCANS-II project (Small Cetaceans of the European Atlantic and North Sea), supported by the European Commission LIFE Nature programme and 12 European governments.
The numbers are needed to assess the sustainability, or otherwise, of the numbers of cetaceans killed incidentally in fishing gear (know as bycatch), a particular problem for the harbour porpoise in European continental shelf waters.
Other aims of SCANS-II are to develop cost-effective monitoring methods for cetaceans in these waters and to develop a management framework for assessing the impact of bycatch and determining safe bycatch limits.
The survey will determine the numbers of the different species of cetaceans in European Atlantic waters, which will be compared with numbers obtained from a similar survey (called SCANS) conducted in 1994, also with LIFE Nature and European government support and also co-ordinated by the SMRU.
Dr Kelly Macleod, who will be onboard one of the ships surveying west of the UK, told the Citizen: "This is an extremely important survey to assess the sizes of populations in European waters.
''Never has there been such a large scale survey in these waters - it's a huge undertaking. The information is crucial in assessing the impact of bycatch on porpoises and dolphins."
The results will be presented to the European Commission and participating governments in 2006.
Meanwhile, the Sea Mammal Research Unit will showcase some of its most exciting and cutting-edge research next week at a prestigious event highlighting the best of British science.
From Monday until Thursday, a team of researchers will attend the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition.
The exhibit concentrates on four species — the sperm whale, bottlenose dolphin, southern elephant seal and Antarctic fur seal. These represent the full range of deep- and shallow-diving species. As mammals, these species have a physiology that has a lot of similarities to humans and yet some can hold their breath and stay submerged for more than two hours and they can dive to over 2000 metres.
The exhibit — which shows the methods used to track these animals using small instruments attached to their backs which then transmit the data back to the laboratory for analysis — is being led by Dr Patrick Miller, Dr Sascha Hooker, Dr Vincent Janik, who are all post-doctoral Royal Society Research Fellows at the University of St Andrews, and Dr Martin Buiw.